- July 16, 2026
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Booker High School was a trendsetter when it came to the creative arts, establishing its well-regarded Visual and Performing Arts teachings as a magnet educational program in the 1970s. But just because it was early in the game doesn't mean the school remains traditional in its approach.
Especially with a newly renovated theater at its disposal, VPA Director Courtney Smith said the creative team continues to innovate to prepare students for a career in the performing arts.
No one knows the program better than Smith, who enrolled in it herself before graduating from Booker High School in 2001.
"One day, when I was in middle school, I came home and told my parents, 'I'm going to Booker. I'm not asking about it — this is what I want to do, and I'm doing it.'"
Her family attended several shows while she was in eighth grade to gain a better understanding of what the program offered, and Smith's parents saw there was no dissuading their daughter's dancing ambitions.
Smith then set out to jumpstart her dance career at the University of Florida. She trained in a variety of genres and specialized in contemporary dance.
Like many instructors with the school's VPA program, she brought that experience back to her alma mater, using it to inspire new students. Now the VPA director, Dance Department chair, and instructor for the past 20 years, she leads artistic curricula that aim to teach the "whole student" and set the young artists on an accelerated path to their potential careers.
VPA instructors aim to do more than simply prep their students for their future ambitions, though. Smith said the magic behind the program's success is how teachers give pupils space to develop their drive and creativity.
"I think being an arts educator is a special, special thing because, particularly by the time they get to high school, students have kind of been defined," said Smith, who was also Teacher of the Year for Sarasota County schools in 2022. "They know their test scores and how they read and how they are at math. They've already decided for themselves how they work in some of these spaces. So, when they get into a new artistic and creative space, they're discovering themselves all over again."
The high school is named after Emma E. Booker, who taught at the Sarasota Grammar School in the 1910s and later became its principal. She championed equal access to education.
Amid the tumult of schools beginning to integrate, the school closed in the 1960s and reopened in the 1970s, when the VPA program launched.
Smith said the VPA program may have a longstanding history, but it's remained strong because it continues to change to meet the demands of today's realities.
In 2024, the school completed a major overhaul of the theater, which she said has been a game-changer for what students can accomplish. While the theater built in the 1990s was revolutionary in its time, she said the update was needed to keep up with competing schools.
From expanded hanging space for visual art to a second black-box theater space, the renovation has opened the floodgates of creativity.
"The students are learning how to create exhibition spaces and all about lighting, which affects how patrons come in and understand their artwork," she said.
Included in the VPA program are the disciplines of art; music; dance; production and design; film and animation; and theater.
While typical high school programs might allot one or two art periods split up throughout the day, VPA has three consecutive periods designated for the special programming.
"That's really important because, for example, in a 45-minute dance class, you barely get going in that amount of time," she said.
Along with updated facilities, the program benefits from current knowledge of creative industries by employing working professionals, Smith said.
Like an elite athletic or traditional academic magnet program, VPA aims to draw talent from afar and foster local talent.
"The scope of the program is designed to be four years," she said. "We ask, 'How do we get you prepared if you want to walk into a professional space out of high school?' If you want to go to college or a university conservatory, you're prepared. If you want to take these skill sets and take them into another field, you're prepared."
